IGIHE

Category: Health

  • Kibagabaga Hospital Lacking Drugs

    {{Patients at Kibagabaga hospital in Gasabo District are complaining of drug shortages.}}

    Hospital officials have said the shortage is due to the fact that Gasabo District has not paid about Rwf 300 Millions that the District owes the hospital inform of contributions to Health Insurance Scheme.

    A district official in charge of Social Affairs in Gasabo District noted that the problem of lack of drugs at the hospital is related to regulations established by the Ministry of finance regarding the financing of Health insurance scheme.

    However, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, slammed such explanations pledging immediate follow-up to solve problems of drug shortages in that hospital.

    Meanwhile Ntirenganya(see photo), a patient at Kibagabaga hospital has not been attended to for the past 12 days since he got involved in a car accident.

    Ntirenganya is said to have no Health Insurance cover which has resulted into his situation of not being accorded any treatment.

    He said, He is poor and is unable to get Frw3000 required to obtain Health Insurence.

    Ntirenganya was knocked by a car in Muhanga district on December 21, 2012. since then he has been at Kibagabaga hospital without recieving anyform of treatment.

    Doctors have only bandaged Ntirenganya’s left leg.

  • How Maize Syrup Might Be Making Us Hungry & Fat

    {{Grocery store aisles are awash in foods and beverages that contain high-fructose corn syrup. It is common in sodas and crops up in everything from ketchup to snack bars. }}

    This cheap sweetener has been an increasingly popular additive in recent decades and has often been fingered as a driver of the obesity epidemic.

    These fears may be well founded. Fructose, a new study finds, has a marked affect on the brain region that regulates appetite, suggesting that corn syrup and other forms of fructose might encourage over-eating to a greater degree than glucose.

    Table sugar has both fructose and glucose, but high-fructose corn syrup, as the name suggests, contains a higher proportion of fructose.

    To test how fructose affects the brain, researchers studied 20 healthy adult volunteers. While the test subjects consumed sweetened beverages, the researchers used fMRIs (functional magnetic resonance imaging) to measure the response of the hypothalamus, which helps regulate many hunger-related signals, as well as reward and motivation processing.

    Volunteers received a 300-milliliter cherry-flavored drink sweetened with 75 grams (equivalent to about 300 calories) of fructose as well as the same drink sweetened with the same amount of glucose.

    These different drinks were given, in random order, at sessions one to eight months apart. The researchers also took blood samples at various time points and asked volunteers to rate their feelings of hunger and fullness.

    Subjects showed substantial differences in their hypothalamic activity after consuming the fructose-sweetened beverage versus the one sweetened by glucose within 15 minutes. Glucose lowered the activity of the hypothalamus but fructose actually prompted a small spike to this area.

    As might be expected from these results, the glucose drink alone increased the feelings of fullness reported by volunteers, which indicates that they would be less likely to consume more calories after having something sweetened with glucose than something sweetened with more fructose.

    Fructose and glucose look similar molecularly, but fructose is metabolized differently by the body and prompts the body to secrete less insulin than does glucose (insulin plays a role in telling the body to feel full and in dulling the reward the body gets from food).

    Fructose also fails to reduce the amount of circulating ghrelin (a hunger-signaling hormone) as much as glucose does.

    (Animal studies have shown that fructose can, indeed, cross the blood-brain barrier and be metabolized in the hypothalamus.) Previous studies have shown that this effect was pronounced in animal models.

    The study, led by Kathleen Page, of Yale University School of Medicine and published online January 1 in JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, was small and was not able to pinpoint precise neural circuits that might be affected by the sweeteners.

    But the results, along with other research, suggest that, thanks to the “advances in food processing and economic forces” that have boosted the intake of fructose, added sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are “indeed extending the supersizing concept to the population’s collective waistlines,” wrote Jonathan Purnell, of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Clinical Nutrition, and Damien Fair, of the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, both of Oregon Health & Sciences University in Portland, who coauthored an essay that appeared in the same issue of JAMA.

    Could fructose consumption alone really be playing such an outsized role in expanding our pant sizes? “A common counterargument is that it is the excess calories that are important, not the food. Simply put: just eat less,” Purnell and Fair noted.

    “The reality, however, is that hunger and fullness are major determinants of how much humans eat, just as thirst determines how much humans drink.

    These sensations cannot simply be willed away or ignored.” In order to eat less (and consume fewer calories overall), they argued, then, one should avoid foods or ingredients that fail to satisfy hunger.

    And that, according to the results from the new study, would mean those fructose-sweetened foods–and drinks.

  • Maternal Mortality Slightly Dropped in Rwanda

    {{The year 2012 left Rwanda’s maternal mortality dropped from 750 of every 100,000 in 2005 to 134 in 2012.}}

    Statistics also show that deaths of children under the age of five have fallen from 152 of every 1000 in 2005 to 54, while the number of deaths caused by malaria reduced greatly, from 54% in 2005 to 6%.

    In the health sector, diseases like malaria that had afflicted Rwandans for a long time, as well as child and maternal mortality continue to reduce significantly.

    Rwanda faces a generalized epidemic, with an HIV prevalence rate of 3 percent among adults ages 15 to 49.

    The prevalence rate has remained relatively stable, with an overall decline since the late 1990s, partly due to improved HIV surveillance methodology.

    In general, HIV prevalence is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and women are at higher risk of HIV infection than men.

    Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has said Rwanda will continue to put more effort in health sector as well as ensuring that all Rwandans are accessing medical care.

    “We will continue to fight malnutrition and give our doctors advanced training to fight HIV/AIDS” Kagame assured

  • Britain’s Thatcher leaves hospital: Reports

    {{Britain’s former prime minister Margaret Thatcher has left hospital after successful bladder surgery, British media have reported.}}

    The 87-year-old was discharged on Saturday. sources close to the former premier said, but her spokeswoman did not immediately return calls on Sunday seeking confirmation.

    The former premier, who led Britain from 1979 to 1990, was admitted to hospital on December 20 for a minor operation to remove a growth from her bladder.

    The former Conservative Party leader remains the only female premier in British history.

    Media said Thatcher was “convalescing privately” after 10 days of treatment at an undisclosed hospital. Her west London home appeared to be empty at the weekend,

  • 7 Job-seekers Collapsed in the heat while undergoing Fitness Test

    {{South African media say provincial authorities are investigating the deaths of seven job-seekers who collapsed in the heat while undergoing a fitness test for positions as traffic officers.}}

    The chief transport official for KwaZulu-Natal province, Willies Mchunu, has suspended further test in the meantime.

    The state-owned South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that several tens of thousands of people took the fitness test late last week, even though only 90 jobs were available.

    They were required to run four kilometers (2.5 miles) in temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), and many collapsed from dehydration and heat exhaustion. Some received hospital treatment.

    South Africa’s official statistics show that the unemployment rate is 25 percent, an indication why so many were applying for the 90 jobs.

  • Rusororo Youth test For HIV

    {{About 2,967 youth in Rusororo Sector of Gasabo District have been tested for HIV and 81 of those tested were found to be infected.}}

    This was revealed during a meeting held to assess the 2012 achievement of Kabuga Youth Centre which is the Centre for mobilization of youth.

    Mungarakarama Deo, the Coordinator of youth in Kabuga has said the number of infected has decreased due to the massive sensitization aiming to fight against new infections among the youth.

    Apart from testing youth, there are also other activities including teaching them about the use of condoms, fidelity and family planning and how to prevent infection.

  • India Gang-rape Victim in Singapore for Treatment

    A young woman who was gang-raped and assaulted on a moving bus in the Indian capital was flown Thursday to a Singapore hospital for treatment of severe internal injuries that could last several weeks, officials said.

    The 23-year-old student, who is in critical condition, arrived in Singapore on an air ambulance and was admitted to the Mount Elizabeth hospital, renowned for multi-organ transplant facilities.

    The hospital said in a statement that she was admitted to the intensive care unit “in an extremely critical condition.” It said “she is being examined and the hospital is working with the Indian High Commission (embassy).”

    The Dec. 16 rape of the woman and her brutal beating triggered widespread protests in New Delhi and other parts of the country and calls for the death penalty for the perpetrators of rape.

    It is punishable by up to life in prison.

    All six suspects in the case have been arrested.

  • 3000 Rwandan Men Vasectomised

    {{Men are being encouraged to have vasectomies, as Rwanda launches a campaign to curb population growth}}.

    The Rwanda Health Ministry offers the “no-scalpel” procedure for free, to encourage Rwandan men to share the burden of family planning which has traditionally been the lot of women.

    To date about 3000 men have stopped reproduction to comply with family planning program aiming at reducing the birth rate among Rwandan communities.

    The Ministry of Health said the Program of encouraging men to have vasectomies started in 2008.

    Fidele Kagabo, in charge of Family planning in the Ministry of Health has said the increase of number of men joining family planning was due to the massive sensitization, however, Kagabo said “there is still long way to go.”

    Health specialists said some of the challenges the program faces is that some people in the targeted group are not joining because of cultural and religious barriers.

  • Antibiotics Not Effective on Cough

    {{Antibiotics are ineffective in treating patients with persistent coughs caused by mild chest infections, the Lancet journal reports.}}

    About 2,000 patients across 12 European countries filled in an ‘illness’ diary.

    The study found that the severity and duration of symptoms in patients treated with antibiotics were no different to those given a placebo.

    But experts caution that if pneumonia is suspected, antibiotics should still be used due to the disease’s severity.

    Prof Paul Little from the University of Southampton, who led the research, said, “Using the antibiotic amoxicillin to treat respiratory infections in patients not suspected of having pneumonia is not likely to help and could be harmful.

    Most mild chest infections will settle by themselves with no need for antibiotics – as mainly caused by viruses”

    Dr Nick Hopkinson British Lung Foundatio

    “Overuse of antibiotics, dominated by primary care prescribing, particularly when they are ineffective, can lead to the development of resistance and have side effects like diarrhoea, rash and vomiting.

    “Our results show that people get better on their own. But given that a small number of patients will benefit from antibiotics the challenge remains to identify these individuals.”

    Previous research into whether or not antibiotics are beneficial in the treatment of chest infections, where symptoms include shortness of breath, weakness, high fever, coughing and fatigue, have produced conflicting results- particularly in older people where chest infections can lead to further complications.

    This study randomly divided patients into two groups – one received the antibiotic and the other was given a placebo, an inert treatment in the form of a sugar pill, three times a day for seven days.

    The study found little difference in the severity and duration of symptoms reported between groups.

    This was also true for older patients – those aged 60 years or over – who made up nearly a third of the study.

    And those taking antibiotics were reported to have more side effects including nausea, rash and diarrhoea than those given the placebo.

    Chest infections are one of the most common problems patients go to their GP about.

    Dr Nick Hopkinson, a member of the British Lung Foundation, thought the study was helpful back-up when patients ask them for antibiotics.

    He said: “Some patients with mild chest infections will ask for a prescription – this study can help GPs suggest it may not be the best thing for them.

    “Most mild chest infections will settle by themselves with no need for antibiotics – as they are mainly caused by viruses. Those with mild infections are told to come back if symptoms don’t get better.

    “This study is encouraging and supports what GPs are already doing.”

    Overprescribing of antibiotics can lead to bacterial infection resistance.

    Dr Michael Moore, from the Royal College of General Practitioners, who also co-authored the study, said, “It is important that GPs are clear when they should and should not prescribe antibiotics to patients to reduce the emergence of bacterial resistance in the community.

    “This study backs the approach taken in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines that patients who present with acute lower respiratory tract infection where pneumonia is not suspected can be reassured by their GP that they will recover without antibiotics and that the illness is likely to last about three weeks in total whether or not they have a prescription.”

    The European study, which included Belgium, England, France and Germany, took place between November 2007 and April 2010.

    It looked at 2,061 patients who had a persistent cough lasting more than 28 days and where a chest infection, like bronchitis, was suspected.

    Those thought to have pneumonia were excluded from the study due to the severity of the disease if not treated promptly.

    Participants completed a daily diary for the duration of their illness and rated the severity of their symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, and blocked.

  • Man Without Heart Dies After 6 Months

    {{A Czech man whose heart had been replaced with two mechanical pumps died six months after the surgery, aged 37}}.

    Jakub Halik had been unable to take the drugs required to receive a transplant due to an earlier diagnosis of cancer.

    After the surgery, he had to carry a battery pack to keep his heart pumping but reported feeling physically healthy. He was even able to exercise at the gym.

    The operation was done last April by Jan Pirk, director of cardiology at the Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague.

    The team designed two plastic pumps to perform the roles of the right and left sides of the heart.

    The doctors said a liver problem caused his death, not the artificial heart. A post-mortem is still under way.

    The only other person to have received the same surgery, a man in Texas, survived for only a week.